Portions of human skin include uniquely-contoured friction ridges that are used to identify a particular person. For instance, the friction ridges on a finger are often referred to as a fingerprint while those on a hand can be called a palm print. The friction ridges can be captured as an image and later used as a reference for matching a subsequently-gathered fingerprint or palm print. In the past, the image of the friction ridges could be created by inking a person's hand or palm and then carefully pressing the ink against a paper surface.
However, modern electronics can now create images of the friction ridges without paper. Fingerprint scanners receive a person's finger against a surface and create an image of the friction ridges on the finger using modern electronics to thereby capture a fingerprint image. To capture such an image, the fingerprint scanner may need the finger to be positioned relative to the surface in a particular way and according to particular timing. For instance, the fingerprint scanner may be in a standby state and before it can begin capturing fingerprint images the fingerprint scanner must be transitioned to a ready state. However, not all users of fingerprint scanners may readily understand the timing and finger positioning used to successfully capture fingerprint images. And fingerprint scanners may not be accompanied with instructions that a user understands. So it would be helpful to visually communicate instructions or device status to users of fingerprint scanners in a way that transcends language and might not include consulting an owner's manual or other technical instructions.